We have had a crowntail Betta since Feb and he seems to be living up to his name "Drama". He has scared us silly with what I think is swimbladder twice now but this morning he looks like he is "going gray". He has a white mustache and the area where his tail starts on top is turning white too. I tried to research this but have seen nothing mentioning tails losing color. We recently put a new leaf bed in his tank, otherwise nothing has changed. Can someone help? Is this mouth fungus? He seems to be eating fine but swims funny, like he can't go down without floating back to the top. I have removed him from his normal tank and put him in a small tupperware with fresh water.

Quote:Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? ? has a heater but I dont think it gets the water as warm as recommended.
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?noneFood
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? alternates dried bloodworms, BettaMin tropical medley and color enhancing betta bits
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1-2 daily (have dropped to once daily since his swimbladder issues)
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 30-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? no

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? white around upper mouth, mouth looks swollen, top fin is turning white
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? seems to have trouble swimming towards the bottom, floats to the top.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? this morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? removed from tank iinto smaller bowl with fresh water (tank is ready to be cleaned)
Does your fish have any history of being ill? believe he has had swimbladder
How old is your fish (approximately)? not sure purchases in Feb.

If it's fuzzy at all, it could be columnaris.. the swollen mouth really suggests it, along with the white patches. If they're not 'fuzzy', do they stand a bit off the skin? Or do they seem to be totally flush with it, part of the skin coloring rather than something sitting on top?

I am including some pics, they are not the best I can't seem to capture the discoloring. Hope this helps. I have also removed him from his normal tank which means he is without his heater, should I put him back?

That patch on his back look a bit like a sore.. like skin missing. To me this looks a whole lot like classic columnaris. But I'd like a few more opinions before linking/discussing treatment..

Yes, give him his heater. But as columnaris thrives in heat turn it down a bit to 74 or so, which is the low end of comfort for bettas.. but IF it is columnaris, it'll slow the progress of the disease. If not, then he won't be too cold, just a little bit less warm than usual.

Would a sore accompany the columnaris? It doesn't appear to have any disruption on the skin, it is really just discolored and came about at the same time. Is columnaris the same as the "white mouth" that is mentioned on some blogs?